Poll: Fat FIRE

[RetireeRobert]

Agree - very little info on the users of this site outside of 80% fall into one bucket.

+1

 

[523HRR]

Interesting conversation with my college-aged son recently... One of his finance professors assigned them to determine how much savings they will need to accumulate for retirement. I asked him what his initial estimate was...he said $2 million would seem like plenty. So I then asked him what level of spending, including taxes, would represent a desired quality of life in retirement TODAY. He thinks $200,000 would be a good goal. OK, so then I asked when he plans to retire...he thinks age 60 would be reasonable. Are you counting on Social Security or a pension? uhh, NO. Alright, so assuming 3% inflation, what income level will be needed 37 years into the future to equate to purchasing power of $200,000 today? -- turns out it's ~$600,000! Wow, so...still think $2 million sounds like enough for a 30-year retirement? Hmmm, maybe not. Then I introduced him to the 4% rule as a decent starting point for figuring out a number. $600,000 x 25 = $15 million! I told him to get busy making money and saving. This was an enlightening conversation for him.